Little Leo and the Leap of Faith
by Sunburned-Stickperson
Summary: Apple be damned. Ezio thought that maybe, if all little kids were as cute as little Leonardo, maybe being a parent was worth it. He was just glad he watched his mother so closely as a kid.


**Yo. Once again, for the glory of the AssCreedKinkMeme by forkinsocket. :D I wouldn't call it "deanon"ing, since nobody can tell who I am anyway unless I know you in none internet life. XD For the prompt on pt.2, pg.16.**

Ezio panicked as he turned to look for his friend. His tiny friend. His tiny five-year-old friend. His tiny five-year-old friend named Leonardo da Vinci. He started rushing around from room to room, searching frantically. The other assassins watched him curiously.

"Master Ezio, what's the problem?"

He whirled around to see several of the apprentices and assassins watching closely.

"Have you seen a young kid—"

"The one that looks like Leonardo da Vinci? Sí, we have. He went out saying he had 'important business.'"

His jaw almost dropped and his eyes grew wide. "And you let him go by himself?"

They seemed shocked. "Of course. Maestro, you forget that there are plenty of kids that wander the streets alone."

"And they get killed by the guards!" he growled, heading out to find his friend, the apple tucked away under his cloak. He decided he would have to talk to Leonardo when he found him. If this was what being a parent was like, he would never be a parent. Never.

And he did find him, giving him a heart attack. Ezio leapt onto the wall and started climbing quickly.

"Leonardo, do not jump!"

The little boy looked at him, the giant red hat practically swallowing his head. "Why can't I?"

"It is a leap of faith! Besides, such a height freezes even the boldest of assassins!"

Leonardo peeked over the edge of the ledge. "But I can fly if I leapt from here. And the hay will stop my fall as it does yours, no?" The boy crossed his arms and pouted. "I bet if I was my real age you'd let me!"

"Leonardo, it is dangerous—"

"I've seen you fall! I know how to do it! I want to fly! Why can't I do it!"

"Think logically, Leonardo."

"I am thinking logically! I can do it! I've calculated all the risks and everything! Or do you just not want me to have fun? I bet that's it, isn't it?"

If he wasn't so afraid of Leonardo jumping, he'd dare to say the image of Leonardo throwing a five-year-old ante-nap fit was adorable.

"You don't want me to have fun! You think I'm too little!"

He was almost at the ledge. "Of course not. I would just feel safer if you went with me—"

"No!" Leonardo screeched and stomped his foot, his tiny hands balling into fists as his hat slide forward. He pushed it back up so he could see. "I want to do it by myself! You'd let me do it by myself if I was an adult again!"

Ezio was at the top of the tower. Just a few more steps. He could feel a yell tear from his throat as he ran forward to grab the child as Leonardo jumped. He peered over the edge and watched him fall, his heart in his throat and his fingers causing the wood to splinter beneath his grip. A sob caught in his throat as Leonardo hit the hay, shrieking happily.

And then he heard giggling. And saw the artist getting out of the hay and running to the wall again. "Again! Again!"

His jaw dropped, and the wood in his grip broke. All he could do was blink in horror as his heart pounded away like a hammer. He was trembling. When Leonardo came back and tried to push passed him, he snagged him and held him up to eye level, furious.

"What if you had messed that up? Your body is not the same as that of a fifty-year-old man! You cannot do such reckless things, Leonardo! Do you understand me! You nearly gave me a heart attack leaping off that ledge without anyone there with you! Never do that again, do you hear me!"

Leonardo shrunk back on the verge of tears as he dangled in Ezio's hands. His lips, which had been pursed in terror, slowly turned into a frown, and then that lip—that lip!—moved forward, and the child burst into tears.

Ezio blinked. Perhaps he had been too harsh on his one-time lover? He pulled the child close, and Leonardo's tiny arms immediately went around his neck in a tight hug as he bawled. Ezio rubbed his back and bounced slightly as he rocked side-to-side, cooing like he had seen his mother do all those years ago with his younger brother.

"I'm sorry, Ezio!" Leonardo sobbed. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to try it! I've seen you do it before, and it looked like fun and that you were flying, and I always wanted to fly, and I thought I could do it and—please don't leave me alone, Ezio! I don't want you to abandon me! I'll be a good boy! Please don't leave me!"

The assassin looked flabbergasted, hugging Leonardo tighter. "Why on earth would I leave you?"

Leonardo sobbed into his shoulder. "My mother did! And my father did! Please don't leave me!"

Ezio frowned and adjusted his grip, still rocking. He didn't know that.

"Your mother and father left you alone?"

"With my uncle! They moved away! They never like me because I am a bastard!"

He held the boy tighter and rocked him. "I'll never leave you, Leonardo." That little bit about his past disturbed him. "Never in a million years. You just scared me doing that. I promise I won't leave. Ever."

He continued muttering to Leonardo until he heard the artist sniffle. He pulled a kerchief from his pocket and held it to Leonardo's nose.

"Blow."

The boy obeyed. Ezio looked at Leonardo, worried. "Ready to get down from here?"

"Can we jump?" his voice was hesitant and shaky.

The man couldn't help but smile softly. "I wouldn't think of taking any other way."

Ezio smiled as they fell, holding Leonardo tightly against him and listening to the boy laugh as they hit the hay.

"I flew! I flew!" the boy shrieked happily as the assassin rose and brushed the hay off.

Ezio couldn't help but chuckle as he adjusted Leonardo clinging to the front of his armor and started walking back toward the hideout. Leonardo was as bright as the sun as he carried him, chirping merrily about the jump and how he would have to try that again and how he wanted to be a bird, and ended up falling asleep in the middle of a discourse on how birds fly. Ezio smiled and sat on a bench for a rest, careful not to disrupt the little boy. The midday sun shone down upon them, and in the early fall season, it felt nice.

When he opened his eyes next, he found Leonardo staring at him intensely, his lips pursed. "Leonardo?" It sounded groggy even to him.

Leonardo beamed brightly and puffed up.

"What do you need, my frie…" He smirked. "My child?"

The little boy seemed a little bit off-put. "I am not your child!"

"You are for now—my son."

The artist pouted. Ezio was planning on teasing him all he could. "Now, what did you need?"

The artist immediately brightened. "I had heard if someone stares at you, you always seem to know. And I've been staring at you for only a couple seconds and you woke up… papa."

Ezio blanched. "Papa?"

Leonardo stuck his tongue out. "If you're going to call me 'your son,' I'm going to call you 'papa.'"

Ezio sighed. He felt old enough, now that Leonardo mentioned it. "Fine—kiddo. Let's go home. I need to figure out how to change you back to my lover, and not my little kid. You make me feel old."

Leonardo only giggled as he took Ezio's large hand as they started walking down the road.


End file.
